Purple Cow

Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

By: Seth Godin

Narrated by: Seth Godin

Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

You're either a Purple Cow or you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. What do Starbucks and JetBlue and KrispyKreme and Apple and DutchBoy and Kensington and Zespri and Hard Candy have that you don't? How do they continue to confound critics and achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and true brands to gasp their last?

Face it, the checklist of tired P's marketers have used for decades to get their product noticed - Pricing, Promotion, Publicity, to name a few -aren't working anymore. There's an exceptionally important P that has to be added to the list. It's Purple Cow. Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or 10, are boring. A Purple Cow, though...now that would be something.

Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat-out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff - a lot of brown cows - but you can bet they won't forget a Purple Cow. And it's not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It's built right in, or it's not there. Period.

In Purple Cow, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. It's a manifesto for marketers.

©2002 Do You Zoom Inc. (P)2009 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"Take Leo Burnett,David Oglivy, Bill Bernbach and Mark Twain. Combine their brains and shave their heads. What's left? Seth Godin." (Jay Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing)
"Godin's style is punchy and irreverent, using short, sharp messages to drive his points home. ....[H]is wide-ranging advice - be outrageous, tell the truth, test the limits and never settle for just 'very good' - is solid and timely." ( Publishers Weekly)

Interesting

Very easy listen. The idea gets a little bit redundant, but his examples of all the companies that have thought outside of the box, and many of those who have never bothered, are unsurpassed. This made me think hard about what we do as business, but I don't really have any ideas yet about how to be remarkable. But this is an inspirational start.

Worth the listen

Recently changed my major to marketing and Seth really gave me a better perspective as to what DOES work and what DOESN'T work in today's marketing world. Definitely worth the listen!

good overall book

I really like the message which is the most important thing. I wasn't crazy about the narrator though. He just seemed a little boring. But it's a fairly quick book so it's not too bad. I'd recommend listening to this.

A Must Read

Very insightful! For leaders in a business, it's a must read. Seth teaches you about how to be remarkable in business and different examples of businesses that get it right.

Great kindling for igniting ideas

An interesting approach, even if a little too vague in certain areas. I wish it had been longer with more real world examples of what has worked, and less repetition of the ideology.

Not cliche

Ironically, while purple cows are unique, the idea of standing out and being different is a common, age-old one. And yet, this book is a must-read-listen because listening to Seth connecting the dots makes you realize that being a purple cow is not just a marketing technique but a necessity.

Outstanding

Anything and everything from Seth Godin is Golden. In my opinion purple cow is a must read book for anyone that wants to stand out from the crowd of average.

be different

makes the case to be different in a concise manner. a quick read/listen, well worth the reinforcement.

Excellent

I found this book so informative and interesting, that I listened to it twice. It is easy to listen to, and full of insight. I highly recommend this book to anyone in any line of work, especially small business owners.

Seth Godin needs to be required reading!

Seth Godin and phrase and teach concepts better than 99% of teachers out there. He should be required reading for all. Pick any of his books, I love this book!!